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Pumpkins and winter squash are really the same vegetable,
though different varieties have slightly varying flavours and textures – and of
course a wonderful range of colours and shapes! In fact, almost all edible
squash varieties fit into three large families, and there are types we'd
recognise as 'pumpkins' in every family! Cucurbita
pepo includes most summer squash, including all courgettes, pattypan squash
(flat, scalloped varieties) and crookneck squash, as well as winter-storing spaghetti
squash, acorn squash (ribbed, heart-shaped varieties) and most small, round, orange
pumpkins. Cucurbita moschata includes
the popular butternut, a few crookneck varieties such as 'tromboncino',
and 'cheese'-type pumpkins (wide and flat, like a wheel of cheese, usually with
cream or brown skin rather than orange) including the slow-ripening but delicious 'Musquee de
Provence' that we have grown this year. Cucurbita
maxima contains arguably the most flavoursome squashes, including the largest
orange pumpkins such as 'Atlantic Giant' and the 'Cinderella' variety we grew
this year, long straight 'banana' squashes, teardrop-shaped 'hubbard' squashes,
the small bright orange or blue 'kuri' squashes, 'buttercup' types and the
impressive 'Turk's turban'.

All winter squash are low in
calories and packed with vitamin A, as well as a multitude of
phytonutrients and antioxidants, and significant helpings of vitamin C, B6, magnesium and potassium. They are easily stored at room temperature for many months as long as they're undamaged, so they can be a really valuable source of nutrition through leaner winter months.

With so much going for them, I'm often amazed by how many people think
all you can cook with a pumpkin is soup or pie, usually spiced so heavily that
you'd barely know there was any pumpkin in there at all. Yes, squashes suit
those warming Christmassy spices – cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, allspice
and so on – but they go great in a huge range of other dishes too, paired with
hotter spices, cheeses, dark leafy greens, nuts, hardy winter herbs (especially
sage), salty meats, and flavours that emphasise their sweetness, such as honey,
maple syrup or vanilla. So I've written this post to show that squashes and
pumpkins of all kinds are useful – and delicious! – in a huge range of savoury dishes as well as the classic soup and desserts, and you'll have no excuse to get bored with the many pumpkins we'll be eating over the course of this winter!

The basics:

1 - One of the simplest ways to cook a pumpkin or winter
squash is to cut it into wedges, leaving the skin on but removing the seeds,
rub with your choice of oil and spices or seasonings, and roasting for 30-40
minutes. With many varieties, the skin is perfectly edible when cooked well,
but if you prefer you can easily peel it off on the plate with minimal waste.
Experiment with different spices and flavoured oils – chilli is a popular
choice but virtually any aromatic spice suits pumpkin. Or try drizzling with
honey or maple syrup to emphasise the sweetness.

2 - If you need pumpkin puree for a recipe, simply cut your
squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and place the halves cut-side down on a
large baking tray with a few millimetres of water in the bottom. Baking time
will depend on the thickness of the flesh, but when it's done it should be soft
and the skin will peel off easily. Cut up the flesh and leave it to drain in a
sieve for a couple of hours – especially with pumpkins which can be more watery
than other squash – and then blend to a puree. (Alternatively you can cube the
flesh, put it in a saucepan with a little bit of water or butter and steam or
saute gently until soft.)

3 - Serve squash mash as a side dish – just add butter and
season to taste – or mash it up with other veg if you like. You could also add
roasted garlic, or sage and creme fraiche, or other herbs and spices to suit
you.

4 - Add squash cubes to a medley of roasted vegetables such
as parsnips, beetroots, sweet potatoes, potatoes and carrots, and serve as a
side with virtually anything. Again, feel free to experiment with spices,
seasonings and oils.

12 - Squash goes great with salty meats such as sausages,
bacon and chorizo – this sausage and
pumpkin casserole is one of my absolute favourites! Don't worry about using
dried sage instead of fresh if it's easier, and skip the shallots if you don't
have them.

13 - Pair roast squash cubes with chorizo fried until it's
sizzling, add roasted shallots or red onions and some spicy rocket, and wrap
the mixture in tortillas for a Mexican-themed
meal. Serve with classic Mexican sides such as guacamole, salsa, refried
beans and sour cream.

14 - Or add roasted squash cubes and fried chorizo slices to
a salad with lots of well-dressed leafy greens and some finely sliced onion.
(For vegetarians, salty feta cubes make a good substitute.)

15 - Here's a super-easy squash
and chorizo stew – it's even better with diced peppers and a can of white
beans added too (add the peppers with the onion, and the beans five minutes before
serving).

16 - Make a simple squash and bacon hash by frying diced
onion, potato, bacon and squash together, and serve with a poached egg. Add
chilli too if you like!

18 - Squash also complements rich, creamy cheeses and dark
winter greens such as kale, chard or spinach. This squash
and kale tart is a rich, cheesy treat that makes great use of autumn and
winter produce.

Sauté about 180g leeks and 180g cabbage in a little oil with
a pinch of rosemary for 6-8
minutes, until soft.

Add about 480g diced squash and cook for
2-3 minutes.

Add 3 tbsps plain flour and stir in thoroughly, then add 400ml stock, stirring well, and
simmer for another 10 minutes until the squash is just cooked through.
Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, butter a pie dish (20cm diameter
and 4cm deep is a good size), roll out two thirds of a block of ready-made pastry and
line the dish with it. Roll out the other third to fit the top.

Into the vegetable mix,
stir about 120g crumbled blue
cheese (Shropshire Blue is particularly good for this) and another pinch of rosemary. Check
seasoning, then spoon the filling carefully into the pie.

Brush the edges of the
pastry with water and lay the pastry top over the pie. Crimp the edges
with your fingers and cut off the excess pastry. Then brush the top with milk or beaten egg to glaze, poke
a couple of holes in the centre to let hot air out, and place in the oven
for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown.

Serve with buttery mash and
peas

Pasta:

22 - Mashed squash is a good base for a pasta bake. Try
pan-frying chopped chorizo with red onion, adding chopped chard or spinach
until it wilts, seasoning with nutmeg, pepper and sage, then mixing it all up
together with mashed roasted squash and cooked pasta, grated cheese and a
splash of milk or stock, and bunging it in the oven until golden on top. Or
customise the above with your choice of veggies, meats and herbs or spices. Or
try adding pecans or hazelnuts instead of chorizo! Or for more cheesy pumpkiny
pasta creations try this pumpkin
maple macaroni cheese, or this pumpkin
parmesan spaghetti.

24 - It's a bit fiddly, but making your own pumpkin ravioli
is delicious and sure to impress! Choose a full-flavoured squash for best
results – a watery supermarket carving pumpkin just won't do. This
recipe comes with a lovely shallot and sage butter sauce and pine nuts (or
you could use flaked almonds).

26 - On the Italian theme... soft, sweet squash is perfect for a creamy risotto. Use
Antonio Carluccio's
recipe or this
one with bacon and leeks, or customise any basic pumpkin risotto recipe to
your own tastes using chilli, roast garlic, pancetta, crispy sage leaves or
crispy fried shallots, different herbs and cheeses, or whatever you fancy...

Soup:

27 - As I've already grumbled, most pumpkin soup recipes
seem to rely on lots of spices for flavour, but I think it's a real shame to
mask the real flavour of the squash instead of making the most of it. Here are
four new ways to try pumpkin soup!

Hotel
Chocolat's London restaurant Rabot
1745, which includes chocolate in every dish, serves a delectable butternut
squash and white chocolate soup, which emphasises the sweet and buttery
notes of the squash. Roast chunks of squash with a wedge of red onion and
a couple of garlic cloves, infuse some good stock with star anise, then
blend the roasted veg with the stock (removing the star anise first!),
grate in a little nutmeg, add a knob of butter and melt in a few squares
of quality white chocolate, to taste.

Roast
squash cubes together with about half the quantity of tomatoes and a few
garlic cloves. Blend with stock (removing tomato skins first) and season to taste - the sweetness of
the roasted garlic and the richness of the tomatoes is wonderful with the sweet squash.

30 - Spread seasoned squash puree, shredded cheese and sage
or other herbs on a pizza base for a pumpkin
pizza! Add chorizo or bacon, chopped greens, nuts or fried mushrooms for
more variety, or try this recipe
with ground beef, olives and rocket.

32 - Make a tasty pumpkin hummus dip. Blend a can of
chickpeas with the same volume of squash puree, two tablespoons each of tahini
and lemon juice, 2 or 3 cloves crushed garlic, and cayenne, cumin and salt to
taste. Add olive oil to loosen the texture if required, and garnish with
pumpkin seeds and a pinch of paprika.

33 - Easy, cheesy fritters can by made with all sorts of
vegetables and served up with salad as lunch or a starter. Try these pumpkin
and parmesan fritters, varying the herbs used as you wish.

34 - Stuff it! With... just about anything you fancy,
perhaps taking the list above as inspiration, or perhaps using one of these seven
great recipes.

36 - Toast the seeds, alone or with spices, to eat as snacks
or serve with drinks. Careful – some varieties have quite hard and chewy husks,
but boiling them for ten minutes first and cooking them just right, like
this, crisps them up and makes them much more palatable.

37 - Use your pumpkin guts – the stringy bits from the
inside, minus the seeds – too! Separate them from the seeds and chop finely, in
a food processor if you prefer, then add to smoothies, soups, or a cake, pie or
bread recipe such as this one for pumpkin
guts bread.

38 - Recreate Starbucks bestseller pumpkin
spice latte (this version actually has real pumpkin in it!). Instead of
canned pumpkin, use homemade and well-drained pumpkin puree, and make up a
batch of pumpkin spice using this
recipe.

39 - Virtually any vegetable can go into a chutney or pickle,
and pumpkin is no exception! Team it with apple or other veggies and spice it
up as much or as little as you like. Try Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's 'glutney' recipe, for
which he encourages you to change the main ingredients for whatever's in
season.

Our member Roselyne, who runs vegetarian and dairy-free cookery courses professionally, has
kindly offered to provide recipes and tips for making the most of our
produce. They will be posted here every week or two, and we hope you
enjoy them!

I have been delighted to have had arugula or rocket in my veg box every week recently! Rocket is a detoxifying, cancer-fighting superfood; it is a member of the brassica family called cruciferous vegetables; a group known for its nutritional powerhouses: broccoli, kale and cabbage. All these vegetables are high in fibre and antioxidants, but they are also rich in compounds known as glucosinolates, which studies show may reduce the risk of developing lung, colorectal, breast, prostate and pancreatic cancer. In addition, rocket has high levels of chlorophyll; it promotes bone health, reduces chronic inflammation and can protect the aging brain against cognitive decline! To preserve its nutritional values, eat it raw when possible, in salads or as an addition it to your home-made pesto (see below), but you can also shred it and add it to hot dishes.

Kale is next best on the list of green leafy superfoods; kale can find its way into almost any dish! You can roast it with other vegetables, such as squash, peppers, spring onions and mixed herbs, and add that mixture to fill a quiche or a pie to which you may add your favourite other ingredients such as English, French or Italian cheeses, eggs and seasonings. Add shredded curly kale to your stir-fry with other colourful ingredients such as carrots, red and yellow peppers, onions, cashew nuts or peanuts, ginger and garlic, or to your cooked noodles mix with a generous serving of peanut butter sauce. Add kale to your green daily juice to consume it raw!

We have had plenty of rainbow chard too, and these leaves and stalks can be substituted for kale every time. I made a tofu hot and sour soup with a base of dried mushrooms the other day; that soup had the stalks of the rainbow chard in it and some of its leaves shredded too; I also put some of the green beans in and although it was simple, it was delicious with rice vermicelli noodles in it and a good flavouring of plenty of freshly grated ginger, garlic, good quality natural soya sauce, a little bouillon powder and some of our delicious little red chillies.

We have also had plenty of French green beans and runner beans; these I use everywhere too; in a tomato sauce with cooked spaghetti instead of courgette or green pepper (photo below), in my leek and potato soup (top photo), or in a hearty brown lentil casserole, for the cold Halloween night! All are good!

Do not forget to pick herbs when you are at the farm and make your own pesto sauce; just grab a small food processor, put plenty of roughly chopped flat or curly parsley in it, 2-3 cloves of organic garlic, ½ to 1 tsp salt, a handful of cashews or walnuts (or a mixture) and process until the cashews are ground up and look like grated cheese. Add 3-6 tbsps olive oil and 2-3 tbsps grated parmesan cheese if you like, and whizz again; it will give you a paste which you can use with cooked pasta, over bread for antipasti, over toast (to go with your brown lentil casserole), or served with hummus. Raw garlic is such a powerful antioxidant, and parsley such a good blood cleanser! Both are very helpful in keeping us ‘colds-free’ in the winter months.

And, if you find that you have leftover pesto, you can add white or wholewheat breadcrumbs (made in your food processor) to it and this will make a good topping for a vegetable crumble or pie; just pop it in the oven until the topping is crisp and golden on the edges. Mmmm, very warming!

For more information or comments, email roselyne@lacuisineimaginaire.co.uk